Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

A ll eyes turned to Renata Norris, Branson's fated mate and the daughter of their once most-hated enemy.

"That's my cue," said Renata as she stood up. "From what Bran and I have been able to put together with Mawmaw Chantal, the only way to defeat the Darkness is to fight it on an elemental level. We think that's the only way we'll be able to destroy it."

"So you'll be able to kill it?" asked Riley.

"Unfortunately, we don't think so. I can control the elements with my magick, but I don't think I'm powerful enough to destroy it. From what we've learned, I think I'm only a part of what it will take. If we can catch it outside of a host, I can freeze the air around it and seal it—for all intents and purposes—in a block of ice. I can combine the element of the Darkness with the elements of water. Then in theory, when the ice is shattered, the Darkness will be destroyed."

"So, we just let it sit out in the sun and melt?" asked Jean-Michel.

"No, not exactly," said Renata. "After talking with Mawmaw Chantal, we believe if we allow the ice to melt or even begin to lose its structural integrity, the damn thing may be able to escape."

"Renata and Chantal are convinced that the Darkness must be held in ice and shattered before it starts to melt," added Branson.

"Have you seen the size of that thing?" asked Skylar. "I know it can compress itself to get through small spaces and even pass straight through things, but when it gets expelled from a host, it's large enough to completely engulf another one."

"If we try to use something like a weapon or some piece of equipment, we might not be able to capture the entire thing," said Bran. "It might have a greater chance of escaping and we'd miss our opportunity to destroy it."

"You need something that can think on its feet," said Travis. "A dire wolf-shifter. A force that can direct its energy and knows what's at stake."

"I think knowing what we know now, if we can lure it here and get Renata to freeze it, Travis and I should be able to join together and get rid of it once and for all."

Something was nagging at Rémy, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. "But earlier you said you can only shift into the dire wolf if it's on a full moon and there's an imminent threat. You said the dire wolf is only a weapon of last resort."

"We know the next full moon is in five days. And I think we can all agree that the Darkness is definitely an imminent threat." said Jean-Michel.

Rémy shook his head. "I don't know that I agree."

"That's because you don't have the experience with this thing that the rest of us do. You haven't seen what it can do. It's pretty horrific. You were too busy fighting somewhere else. You left the rest of us to deal with it," challenged Piper.

"You're right, I wasn't here. But in my defense, I was off fighting other kinds of more palpable evil, and no one thought to let me know what was going on. I'm here now, Piper, and I'm not going anywhere," Rémy said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

Dealing with her was going to be far more difficult than he'd ever imagined. But he would stay the course. He would keep her safe until they'd taken care of this Darkness and then there would come a reckoning. He was willing to admit he'd made a mistake, but they both knew they were fated mates and at some point, she would yield to him.

Piper seemed to ignore the sentiment behind his words. "You do whatever you like. We've gotten along just fine without you for the past decade. Trust me, most of us are happy to continue in that same vein."

"I hate to agree with her, Rémy," said Skylar, "but she's right. I realize you were a SEAL, but now that Renata is here to freeze this sucker, all we need to do is figure out how to bring it to us on our timeline and force it out of its host. We have our plan."

"Isn't the only way to force it to leave a host is to kill that host?" asked Darby.

"It's the easiest way, but Kat forced it out by not giving over to it."

"I know that some hosts have been willing participants, but what if it has possessed someone against their will, like Kat? Would you have killed your friend to get a shot at it?" asked Rémy.

"That's not fair, Rémy," said Skylar.

"Fair doesn't enter into it. I can tell you that killing someone, regardless of whether they're a willing participant to what's going on, isn't something that leaves your soul unscathed. Every time you take a life, you hack off a little chunk of your soul and hand it over to Satan."

"I'm not discounting that," Skylar agreed, "but I don't think we have any other choice. We may well be forced to sacrifice the one for the good of everyone else."

Rémy shook his head. "That's not as easy a choice to make or live with as you might think."

"I have no doubt that both doing it and living with it would be difficult. I just don't know that we have much of a choice."

"Skylar is right; we may not have a choice. Travis, when thinking about destroying this thing, have you and Skylar ever been able to combine as a dire wolf again?" asked Cameron.

"No, but we haven't encountered the right set of circumstances to try," she explained. "We did try once on a full moon, but we weren't under imminent danger with no other choices."

Amy shook her head. "It doesn't matter." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "When I specifically started researching our archives for information that could help us now, I found out that La Guerrera Lobo can only be used once by a bonded pair of fated mates." She turned to Travis and Skylar. "I'm sorry, but that puts you two out."

"Then it looks like it's up to Cameron and me," said Riley.

Amy nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"Why does it not surprise me that you sound like you're looking forward to it?" Cameron asked his mate with a smile.

"Do you think you're up to it?" asked Rémy. "I'm not trying to be insulting, but even SEALs have a mandatory retirement age, and most are out long before then."

"You may not be trying to be insulting," said Riley, "but you're doing a bang-up job."

Cameron wrapped his arms around Riley's waist as he spoke. "Regardless, we don't have any other options. We know that a simple wolf-shifter can't kill it. It's either got to be done by a dire wolf or we have to come up with another option. I think we're up to it, but I admit, I liked our chances a whole lot better when I thought Sky and Trav could have a second shot at it."

Riley turned in her mate's arms, brushing his hair away from his face. "There may be a bit of snow on the roof, but I know for a fact that the fire in the hearth hasn't diminished."

Cameron chuckled, tightening his arms around her. "It isn't that the spirit isn't willing, my beauty, but every morning when I leave our bed, my body reminds me that I'm not as young as I used to be."

"We have no choice, Cam," Riley whispered quietly.

"I know. We'll be fine," he agreed.

"So the question becomes, how do we lure the Darkness here in five days' time?" asked Jean-Michel.

T he question hung in the air unanswered until it was decided they would adjourn for the night and reconvene the next morning after breakfast. Piper had no doubt that a great many of those at the meeting would seek solace in the arms of their mates. But as usual, she found herself alone. Unable to sleep, Piper slipped out of her clothes and into the moonlight as she shifted into her wolf self.

She bounded off the balcony of her second-story room, landing lightly on the ground. Piper glanced around and ran toward the river. One of her favorite paths was a track that ran the perimeter of the plantation's boundaries. The land was bordered on three sides by beautiful and meticulously maintained, brick walls covered in climbing ivy and flowering vines. The fourth border was guarded by the Mississippi River. Jean-Michel knew they were vulnerable there and thus had various alarms and fortifications to keep his pack safe.

Next to Wolf Meadow, Rivière Du Loup was probably her favorite place on earth. She knew that most people preferred the rich, saturated colors of Tuscany or perhaps the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, but none of those locales could compare to the rich, fertile soil of her home or this grand plantation. Rivière Du Loup had been a second home of sorts to her. The two packs had always been close and Skylar had been one of her best friends for most of her life. But life was changing fast. Skylar was mated to Travis now, and she doubted they would ever call either place home.

Piper galloped away from the main compound, heading up from the river and reveling in the night, illuminated only by the stars and a waxing gibbous moon that in the next five days would become full. Piper loved the way she experienced the ground beneath her paws—the soft grass, the rough pebbles, the grainy sand of the riverbank. All of it unique and welcome.

There was so much freedom in being wolf—no one told her what to do. She wondered if she would ever be able to be the she-wolf she knew she was meant to be and be accepted by wolfen society at the same time. Would she ever be forced to choose between conforming to what her parents wanted or going her own way as a rogue—living alone, but wild and completely free.

The sound of a lone wolf's mournful howl brought her up short. Rémy. Not only could she recognize the sound of his voice, but it could be no other. She suspected she wasn't the only one who had found sleep elusive. She didn't want to intrude, but more importantly, she didn't want her own run interrupted or complicated by anyone else, especially him. Not tonight.

Diverting her route from the path, she ran to the grove of oak and weeping willow trees that surrounded a large pond. Skylar had once said that the trailing branches often made her feel like they were reaching out for her, trying to entrap her. But to Piper, they felt like the soft caress of a lover on her fur as she ran beneath them. She circled the pond and was about to head back to the house when she was confronted by an enormous black wolf. Rémy. He trotted toward one of the stone benches that encircled the pond. Skylar knew from experience that there were built-in containers in the seat of each bench that stored clothing so that if someone needed to shift from their wolf self, they didn't have to be naked.

Rémy trotted over and nosed one of the benches open, pulling out what appeared to be a pair of black sweatpants. He placed them on the ground and then reached in again to pull out a simple shift, setting it in front of her. He returned to the bench and the golden shimmer surrounded him as he morphed from wolf to man.

He still had the power to take her breath away. No man or wolf had ever called to her the way Rémy did. Six-foot-five of glorious male muscle. She barely managed not to gasp. Rémy had always been wolfen perfection. But his previously flawless flesh was now marred by a mass of scars. She knew he'd been captured and tortured, but some of those scars weren't of recent origin. It took every bit of willpower that she possessed not to run to him and wrap her arms around him to try and absorb some of his pain. What had he been forced to endure because he, like her, had no place where he truly belonged?

Piper's wolf retreated and she shimmered back into her human form, slipping on the shift to cover herself. The night was warm, and it felt as though it was an inky velvet blanket that surrounded them. When she looked up, he was facing her. Likely he'd gotten an eyeful before she'd put on the dress. She hoped he wasn't expecting her to be shy and self-conscious. Piper had learned long ago not to worry about her appearance. She was too tall, with a defined waist, long legs and tits and hips that had been the focus of a great deal of unwanted male attention, even though she didn't fit the normal standard for beauty.

Rémy didn't seem any more concerned that she'd caught him looking than she had been that he was looking. His black hair and hawk-like features kept him from being conventionally handsome, but nonetheless he'd always taken her breath away. All her teenage fantasies had been tied up in Rémy Gautier and he'd walked away from her a decade before. She had to remember that. She'd pleaded with him, and he'd rejected her. He was the only person she'd ever begged, and she'd be damned if she ever begged him or anyone else ever again.

"I've always loved this pond and the grove of willows," she said, unable to stand the silence. "Did you know Skylar hates them?"

"The willows? Yes. I'm afraid I'm responsible for that. I told her they were monsters and were trying to get her. I told her they'd catch her and drown her in the pond. And then she'd become one of the swans, forever trapped in the form of a bird."

"What a horrible thing to tell your sister," Piper admonished.

"I was ten and was into gruesome horror stories. It wasn't until recently that I realized I'd scarred her permanently. I apologized to her a long time ago. It's one of the few regrets I have, but I remind myself I was a child too."

"And she forgave you?"

"Of course," he said in a voice that had always reminded her of his sire's—a rich combination of whiskey and molasses. "We're family. We love each other. When you truly love someone, you find a way to forgive their childish sins. I'd do anything for Skylar. Well, almost anything."

"What wouldn't you do for her?" asked Piper, curious to see where he'd draw a line with his own family.

"Give up on us."

She shook her head and backed away. "There is no us, Rémy. You knew that even when we were kids. I get it now. You knew there was no real place for you here so you had to leave."

He nodded. "I did, but I didn't think through all the ramifications of my decision. It wasn't a very alpha wolf like thing to do. I was young, noble, and foolish. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I told you, it was a long time ago. I don't even think about it."

"I don't believe you. You've always been with me, Piper. Always."